1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention is in the field of mounting brackets that provide a novel means of mounting and dismounting an infrared (IR) aiming light to a small caliber weapon, such as the U.S. Army M16 rifle.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Previously, IR aiming lights were mounted on top of the weapon. A switch on the IR aiming light had to be activated when the soldier desired to illuminate an enemy nighttime target along the boresight of the weapon with a narrow IR light beam emitted from the IR aiming light. Since the beam is easily detected, the amount of time that the beam is activated needs to be minimized. With the IR aiming light, and thus the switch, on top of the weapon, the rifleman had to release his hold on the handle of the weapon when reaching on top of the weapon to activate the switch of the IR aiming light. The present mounting bracket makes it possible for the operator to continuously brace the weapon and selectively activate the IR aiming light simultaneously to minimize IR beam detection time and yet provide more accurate sighting for firing at the enemy target.